As of 3AM this morning I’m about a quarter of the way through the third season of West Wing, so obviously there is much to come that I am not aware of, as this post from Ian Millhiser makes clear. In it, Millhiser reviews the Bartlett administration and finds it as lacking in a way that ostensibly mirrors the Obama administration.

A poll released by the Washington Post and ABC News provided another opportunity to discuss how important civil liberties and national security issues are to liberals. The poll results showed majority support among liberals for President Barack Obama’s handling of “counterterrorism,” including his use of drone strikes and failure to close Guantanamo Bay prison.

I see that the Conference of Catholic Bishops has figured out how the Obama Administration has either cleverly or by fumbling finessed the contraception insurance coverage issue while exposing the Bishops to the charge their objections are more using government to restrict women’s rights than violating the moral conscience of a bunch of old men out of touch with their congregations.

While some are calling yesterday’s change of policy with regard to contraception coverage a win-win for both the Catholic church and the Obama administration, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops does not see this as a win. Instead, they see it as one small little step, and they are pressing for much, much more.

The first amendment’s protection of religious liberty is not a license for religious organizations or individuals to disregard any law or regulation they don’t like. If the White House wants to end this fight, that’s the argument they’re going to have to make to the public. Instead, they have allowed the USCCB to set the terms of the debate, and the USCCB is quite happy to continue doing so.

This isn’t over, folks. Not by a long shot.

Over at The New Republic, Noam Scheiber has a pretty decent account of how the Obama administration made its pivot to deficit reduction after the 2010 election and messed up the debt ceiling issue.

The AP is reporting that an announcement from the White House is coming soon on a “compromise” with the Catholic bishops over the requirement to provide insurance that covers contraception.

I’ve got an idea of how that announcement will end . . .

The Pentagon is now “investigating” and going after Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who submitted an 86-page report with classified information to Congress on the war in Afghanistan. He also wrote an unclassified version of the report that he is waiting for Army Public Affairs to review so that he can release it to the public.

Despite having criticized the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and the rise of Super PACs, President Obama’s re-election campaign has decided to fully endorse the use of their own allied Super PAC. Passing legislation about campaign finance reform was simply not a priority for the Obama administration.

The US and its allies have been attacking one evil empire after another for decades, including the evil empire of Mohammed Mosaddegh, the scary Red Menace in Iran, in 1953. We have nothing to show for any of them. Why do US, European and Israeli leaders think this time things will be different?

Billed as the “first-ever completely virtual interview from the White House,” YouTube and Google+ hosted an event this evening called “Your Interview with the President.” President Barack Obama took questions from a few individuals who were selected to be a part of a “hangout.” They asked various questions about the economy, education and a few on digital freedom and foreign policy.

Two questions of interest, given Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s interview last night on 60 Minutes, were questions on drone use. A young male asked about drones and how they have caused many civilian casualties.